


diving into dreams

by GalaxyDestinies



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Corny, Friendship, Gen, I can’t write Makoto I’m sorry, or anyone for that matter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27594427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyDestinies/pseuds/GalaxyDestinies
Summary: “The new system is directly correlated with your dreams, memories, and state of miND. And with a strong enough braIN, you should theoretically be able to create your own worLD.”-Natsume and Sora create a brand new SVRS for Makoto to try, although this one is quite dangerous, so Natsume steps in to test it.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	diving into dreams

“Yuuki-Sensei is very bad at this game♪ Sora has won five times already~!”

“Ugh, you can be so cruel! I’m just getting the hang of this~!!”  
yelled Makoto. They were playing the newest installment of the ‘Ensemble Fighters’ series, and Makoto was struggling to keep up, unlike Sora, who was gleefully playing and winning without a care in the world. Despite Makoto having the biggest passion for fighting games, Sora was the best player out of all the members of the Game Research club. 

Makoto sighed, "The mechanics are so different now..I'm surprised the developers changed this much.." Makoto tossed out a fireball at the wrong time, and Sora's character jumped towards him and finished him off with a super attack. 

“Sora has won again!~♪” yelled Sora happily. 

After that loss, Makoto sighed again.  
"You really are such an amazing player Harukawa-kun. Guess i'm going to have to practice my hardest if I want to win against you...But- just so you know, I wasn't THIS bad of a player in the arcades you know!"

“HmPH. That seems like a sorry excuSE. PerHAPs you are just upset about your lack of skilLS.”  
Makoto looked behind him and saw Natsume, who was crossing his arms and smiling smugly.  
“Maybe you should stop playing such awful games with your spare tiME, and practice games like tHIS instEAD. And then perhaps you could keEP UP with Sora.”

"Awful games!? The games i enjoy aren't that bad! Yesterday i was just playing Tetris-"

And with that, Natsume and Sora looked at each other with a smile and started laughing to themselves.

“Uuuu….You two can be so rude! Besides this game, didn't you say earlier there was another reason you called me here? It better be good!"

“No need to yell at us for being ruDE, when you are clearly the one losing temPER.” Natsume walked over to where Makoto and Sora were sitting and peered down at them. “But I suppose there is no point in stalling anyMORE. Sora and I have something to show YOU.”

When Natsume said that, Sora immediately jumped up excitedly, “Yup! Sora almost forgot~ Yuuki-sensei! Get ready to see something amazing!!"

Makoto looked worried. Something ‘good’ coming from these two, especially something ‘good’ specifically made for Makoto, was usually something that ended terribly. 

“Uwah, is this going to be like SVRS!? That one was outright dangerous, even if it was slightly fun..!”  
Last time Natsume showed something to Makoto, he and Sora had Makoto test out the SVRS, A VR system created by Switch, made with their signature magic.

Natsume and Sora led Makoto to the back of the club room and took something off of the highest shelf, a strange looking glowing box sparkling with green and yellow glitter. But the glitter seemed to move on its own, and would evaporate with the smallest touch. Makoto was left in awe for a few seconds. 

Natsume took the lid off of the box and pulled out a strange new system. "Though the SVRS system was a success in our eyES, It doesn't take a geNIUS to figure out that you didn't enjoy our sySTEM, Yuuki-Kun." Natsume was smiling smugly as he held the new system, and now that it was out of the box, Makoto could clearly see that it was a new SVRS. 

"This system is new and improVED in every aSPECT, and made with much stronger maGIC, at that."

Makoto took a few steps back, "No way!! Absolutely not! The old SVRS system sometimes was nightmare, and you're telling me this one will be MORE realistic!?" 

"Absolutely not. I won't play this." sighed Makoto.

Sora stepped in front of him and said, "Shisho and Sora worked very hard on this system! Yuuki-Sensei can't just say he won't try it?"

And then, Natsume snickered, "And even if you deSPISE our creation again, you will most likely find more enjoyMENT out of it than TETRIS." 

Natsume and Sora looked at each other and started laughing quietly to themselves again. 

"Ugh, you two are being rude, again!!" Makoto yelled, he then turned to look at Natsume, "How is it improved anyway~? It was already pretty realistic last time. Honestly too realistic. As fun as it was during the test run, It took so much running and physical energy that I was exhausted by the end.”

"The new SVRS can simulate all Five SenSES even better than the other oNE." Natsume crossed his arms. "You will be able to experience everything around you like reaLITY, but even more so than the SVRS. The new system is directly correlated with your dreams, memories, and state of miND. And with a strong enough braIN, you should theoretically be able to create your own worLD.”

"That sounds terrifying! You expect me to be excited about this!?" yelled, Makoto. He held his face in his own hands. "You two really love putting me through pain, huh?"

"RathER, We trust your judgment enough to let you try our CREATIONS. With each new step we take in making something new with our magic, our performances and live shows could imPROVE. And so we trust you with that, despite your overall taste in shiTTY Games."

Makoto looked at Natsume. "You really have to end your 'compliment' with a diss, huh?"

Makoto did appreciate the compliment though, in a way. If only Natsume didn’t always add a snarky remark to his words. 

Natsume gently held the new-and-improved SVRS and plopped it into Makoto’s hands. Makoto once again sighed.

This new system did seem slightly interesting, which Makoto hated to admit. This new creation of theirs terrified him. But he couldn’t help feel the slightest bit curious about it.

“Fine...I guess I better get it over with, huh?” said Makoto, with a firm look on his face.

“HaHiHuHeHo~♪ Sora is super excited to see Yuuki-sensei try out the new SVRS!” yelled Sora happily. He was jumping around so excitedly, so there was no backing out now. Makoto would feel too mean, if he were to do so. Even if he did get constantly teased by Natsume, and even Sora.

“I’m going to go back to my room, and try this out, okay~?” Makoto said, looking towards Natsume. “There’s controllers all over the floor here, and I don’t want to trip over anything. And I know you would be the one to make me clean them up, Sakasaki-kun.”

Natsume looked taken aback for a second. “HmPH. I would rather get footage of you wearing it, to fully test its effECTS. But I suppose we are using you as the guinea pig for our new test systEM, so perhaps I’m not in the position to complaIN much.” Natsume started taking a few steps towards Makoto.  
“But if you misstep and break the new SVRS sysTEM, or accidentally collide into a wall and it explodes into pieCES….”

Ý̴͇́́̌͑̏͋͝ǫ̴̮͙̥̪͛̔́́̏ǔ̴͙̹̺̕ ̷͈̙̼̼͍̏͋̏͊̉͝ͅḅ̷̞͎̰̪̦̑̏͘͜ȇ̷͇͘͝͝͝t̴̙̣̰͈̮̗̖̹̹̩̀̍t̴̛͖̲͍͂͌̆̓̀͠e̶̛̛̠̫͓̿͒̕͝ŗ̴̦̘̣̯̩͆ ̵̛̘̯̭̰̒̈́̚̚p̸̧̨̪͙͍͕̘̜̜͛̉r̸̢̺̮̮̳̦͊̑̐͑̉͑̄e̵̻̬̘͖̦̥̳̻̾p̷̧̞̣̰̯̮̱̭̭̅̂͆̈́͜á̵̢̨̯̩͔͍̺͎̞̦r̸̡̦̐́̂̌̂ẽ̴̟͈͜ ̸̡̰̭͕̻̫̠̺̟̔͒̒͐̇̏͆̈͊t̵͓̠̻̦́̂̋̽̿͝ỗ̷͓͍̼̪͙͐̿̄͠ ̷̡̧̫̲̯̦̺̗̰͎̊̔̓̔͆̃̎̕r̴̡͕̺̜̪̹̟̂̀̓̂́͗͘̚͘ẹ̸̛͖̲̣͚̦̻̲̰̑͒̀̀̉̉͌̈̕p̴̛̹̦̏̃͗̋͋͠͝͠ę̴̜͓͚̹͗́̊̀͆ǹ̵̢̛̙̅̊̿̑̑̔̇ť̴̗̪͙͓͇̠̕ͅ,̴͓̤͚͔̺͉̿̀͠ ̸̛̬̖͓̦͐̀͛̀̽͗̎͋͝Y̴̡̧̮̩̰̖͈̆̎͘ụ̸̙̻͔̞͚̃͂́ů̶̙̤͎͉̥̙̮̺̬̓̇͒͜͠k̷̬͈̈́̐͂͆̀͠į̴̡̙͇̻̞̦̙̺̜͒̏̈́̓̍̊-̵̧̞̰̺̰̉̿̌ḵ̵̡̗̗̝͖̩͇̓̽̊̐̎͘ŭ̸̙͉̻̳̦̝̺͎̦̋͝n

________________________________________________________________

**The next day, 6:20 pm**

“How boriNG. Yuuki-kun said he’d come to the Game Research Club after practiCE, but he’s LATE.” said Natsume, slightly sighing. “I’d like to know the full fruits of our efforts as soon as possiBLE, and see if the new SVRS was enjoyable at aLL ♪” 

Sora looked off to the distance for a second. “Yuuki-sensei would definitely have a good reason for being late, Sora wonders if something happened to him?”

At that moment Makoto slammed the doors open.

“Huh...huff…uuuu...I’m sorry...I’m late.” Said Makoto, he was out of breath and bending over to hold his knees. 

“It’s fINE. Can you sit down NOW? Sora and I have been waiting to hear about the SVRS.”

Makoto sat down on one of the green chairs in the room. It was soft, but it was weirdly egg shaped, which made it uncomfortable to sit in. He took a deep breath.

“Don’t work on the SVRS anymore.”

Sora and Natsume looked at each other bewildered, and then looked back at Makoto. 

“I-i know I’m not making any sense, but hear me out, okay?! It was awful. It somehow took memories from my head, and it made them real again. I then saw things I didn’t want to, like Trickstar getting injured on stage-“

He looked at the two of them with a serious expression.

“Just please! Don’t work on that thing anymore...It bothered me for the entire day! I was completely out of it during practice.”

Natsume thought for a second. “HmM. The new SVRS does take reference from the user’s miND, but it seems that in your case the situation was just plain bAD. You do seem out of IT.”

Makoto got up from his chair. “Just be careful, yeah? I’m gonna head back to the dorms now.” He left and shut the door behind him. 

Natsume held the system and looked at it bitterly.  
“Shisho~? Sora could try out the SVRS as well, if Shisho is looking for more people to test it….? Since Shisho is going to try and fix it, right?”

“No need, SoRA. It’s getting late, you should head back to the dorms as weLL. I can simply test it out on my own, should I need to make any adjustmeNTS.”

If this new SVRS was really as bad as Makoto was making it out to be, Natsume would definitely not want to force Sora to try it. Natsume was it’s lead developer after all, and if it was really this broken, it was technically his fault. 

“Mmm, well...goodnight Shisho~! ♪” said Sora. He walked out of the door, but as he closed it, he said “Be safe? Okay?”

Natsume looked back at him and gave a small smile. He then looked back down at the system. He sighed. He wasn’t used to doing the testing for things like this, but this time it called for it. He proceeded to put on the SVRS.

It was like being warped into a completely new world. He stood in the middle of a vast, white, sea of nothing. There wasn’t anything here. It wasn’t showing him his past memories, or his fears like Makoto told him it would. Unless it took a second to kick in?  
He walked forward a bit, but nothing was happening.

“How boriNG.”

Natsume looked a bit further and saw….Sora? He walked closed and saw Sora was on the ground….injured? He tried to run over, but there was somehow an invisible wall, blocking him from walking over and helping. Next to Sora was a broomstick.

“Shisho….you made Sora test the new broomsticks for the upcoming...Switch performance…and Sora..fell...”

There weren't any new broomsticks. This was all an illusion of fears...but a very disturbing one. Natsume was getting pissed, how could a machine do this? To his Sora? 

“Shisho~? How could you do this to Sora…?” 

Natsume was getting increasingly more disturbed, despite his usual coolheadedness. He quickly walked away. Once you walk away far enough from something in the VR world, it disappears. Certain video games can only load so much after all. 

Next would probably be...Tsumugi right? (...”good riddanCE…”) thought Natsume. Deep down he absolutely didn’t want to see anything bad happen, but he pushed those thoughts away to keep calm. 

Natsume turned his head, and behind him….were the eccentrics? 

“Ah, look at all of my faKE Nii-sans ♪” 

They were all standing there. Wataru and Kanata had a slight smile, but the rest of them were looking at Natsume judgingly. 

“Kukuku, why do you think we hid you from the public eye, Natsume? You, our little oddball child, were much too weak…” said “Rei” with a smile.

“we all ‘fell’...fine ‘destroyed’ us. You couldn’t ‘protect’ or save us..we were broken and humiliated, and you could not do a thing.” said “Kanata”

The “Wataru” let out a laugh. “Fufufu~♪ I truly did care for all of you, once! I’ve been so busy with fine, it’s been hard to make time for you Natsume-kun. ☆ Now I have my beloved Hime-kun, Butler-san, and _Eichi_ , after all.”

The four of them walked closer to Natsume. Rei, Kanata, Wataru, and Shu, now just a few steps away from Natsume all opened their mouths.

O̴̯̱̿̉̀̄̈́̕͝͝u̷̟̱̲̯̯͌́̒̏̓͊̕R̵̫̝̗͂ ̷̝̱̬̱͕͙̲̟̟̐̕͝B̸̢͚͍̱̓̾̅̅̈́̚̕͠͠ė̷͙̺̟͈̿̊͗̈L̴͕͖̞̹̻̓́̿͝Ô̴̰̘̭̜̘͖̺̮̈́́v̴̘͓͚̞͈̩͑̌͜ė̶̢̢̡̧̩̝̰͔͍̋̀̐̕͝͝d̵̝̖̩̈͑ ̸̡̲̙̦̙̩̥̭͙̘̔̀͑̓͂̇̄͂̕Ó̷̡̧͓͓̗̤̅͊̆͜ḑ̷͎̫̠̥̹͚̂̀̄͝͝d̴̢͕̱͙̬̮͈̟̮̈́̒̈̈́͌̄͂̈́̚͘B̴͈̣͉̒̿̒̊̐̋̕ͅả̸͕̤͐̽͆̒̊͘͠L̸̞̘̤̥̏L̴̡͉̀̓͑͑͘ ̵̛̗̤̺͚̅͗̄C̶̞̒̈͋̈h̷̺̳͖̙̙͉̺͎̰̩̎͒i̵̢͓̝̜͉̜̞̮̬̒͒͊͋̾̽͠L̴̨͖͎̑̓̽̉̅͛́͂͝Ḋ̵̺̜̝͆́͝”̸̯͕̝̇̏̋̌̿͆̏̈́͠

Natsume didn’t even flinch. The four people standing before him were nothing but an illusion, and a bad one at that. The things spurring from their mouths were things the real eccentrics wouldn’t even think of.

“My nii-sans would never say such thiNGS. You are merely a shadow of the fears I once had, long ago when I was weaKER. I am no longer the child that needs to be doted ON.”

Natsume glared at all four of them with such a piercing gaze, they started to dissipate, like petals in the wind. Natsume lifted his hand, shifted it forward, and shooed them away. They broke like glass and disappeared. 

Natsume was once again in the pure white void, with nothing else there but himself.

Natsume calmly took off the SVRS. Even if he felt like he beat it, he still felt the slightest bit shaky. He despised this thing, for making him feel this way. He threw it to the ground.

“Shisho~!” the real Sora yelled running into the club room.

“...SoRA? Weren’t you back in the doRMS..?” 

“Sora was, but it was impossible to fall asleep! Sora could sense something bad was happening.”

Sora looked up at Natsume. “Are you okay, Shisho?” Natsume took a second to respond.

“I’m fiNE. Thank you for worrying about me, soRA.”

“Shisho...you look a bit...pale? You should step outside for a bit with Sora!”

Sora took his hand and guided him outside. The sky was a brilliant blue, and it was full of stars. It was also a bit chilly outside, with a slight breeze, which was already making Natsume feel better. As they continued to walk, they saw Tsumugi, who was sitting near a tree looking up at the stars.

“Eh? Natsume-kun? Sora-kun? Sometimes I walk out here to look at the sky~...What are you two doing out here?”

“NothiNG, SenPAI.” said Natsume, with a slightly pissed tone. 

“HiHi~ since all of Switch is out here now, we should watch the stars! Everyone has been so busy lately...Switch hasn’t been able to do something like this in so long!~♪”

Sora sat down cross legged underneath the tree, next to Tsumugi. Natsume sat down as well. There was a moment of peaceful quiet, and the only thing that they could hear was the sound of crickets chirping and the trees swaying in the wind. And of course, above them, was the pleiades stars. ｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

________________________________________________________________  
**Epilogue**

“Sakasaki-kun?” said Makoto. He was checking in on the game research club, to see what had happened after yesterday. “Did you end up testing out the SVRS?”

“ObviousLY. What garbaGE. I tossed that piece of junk out immediately after testing it onCE.” 

Makoto breathed a sigh of relief. “..thank goodness...”

“Even if YOU didn’t like the original, it didn’t need to be changED. This improved version was a setback in every wAY.” Natsume picked up a controller, and pressed the ON button on one of the game club consoles. Then, he sat down next to Sora to get ready to play a game, and then looked back up at Makoto.

“Switch, always at its very core are the magicians of happineSS. If Switch fails to bring happiness, and instead brings dreAD, that means we’ve failed. I would never release that lyiNG piece of junk onto the worLD.” 

He then picked up a third controller, and tossed it to Makoto.

“Uwah, you could’ve given a warning, I almost dropped it!”

Natsume closed his eyes and smiled. “If you’re mad at ME, then beat me in a gaME, Yuuki-kun ♪”

Makoto sat next to Sora and Natsume, and they continued to play for the next few hours. Thinking about, and worrying about, nothing else.  
As they should. ☆

**Author's Note:**

> My first ever fic!! (´∀`) The game research club is very dear to me, so I had a lot of fun writing about them. But I’m also pretty inexperienced in writing, so I’m sorry if it was complete crap LOL


End file.
